God’s Sovereignty

“When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. ‘Sovereign Lord’, they said, ‘you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.'”

Acts 4:24

We live in a world that is full of violence, conflict, horrendous atrocities, and unending evil. All people have been created in God’s image, and throughout history, some people have done some terrible things to other people. Just recently we saw Russia invade another independent nation, Ukraine, without just cause and resulting in the deaths of many innocent civilians. There are conflicts in many nations over covid restrictions, government policies, and political ideologies, with some of them resulting in violence and injuries to others. We also read about the murders, kidnappings, rapes, thefts, and other crimes committed against one another in our news every day. And finally, there exists the bullying, verbal attacks and silencing of people just for having a different viewpoint.

And the one question many non-Christians usually ask is, “If God is so good, why does he let these bad things happen?” It is a legitimate question with a simple answer. It’s because although God is good, He gave people a free will. And people use that freedom for evil instead of the good that God intended.

When God created the world, Genesis 1:31 says that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” So, what went wrong? Again, Genesis provides the answer in chapter 3 that sin entered the world so that humans were corrupted and banished from the garden of Eden and God’s perfection. It resulted from Adam and Eve’s decision to listen to Satan instead of God. It was willful disobedience. They wanted to “be like God” rather than just enjoy His presence. God could have created us to be totally obedient to Him. But then He would not have enjoyed our presence with Him as much as if we freely love being with Him. That’s the same love every parent wants from their children.

In our world today, many people look to find someone to blame for all this conflict and evil. Some blame God instead of Satan, some blame society instead of the individual, and often some blame others instead of themselves. Yet, God is still sovereign over all. What, then, does that really mean?

Sovereignty is not an issue of control. Since God gave us free will, He therefore cannot control what we do. So, being sovereign is not about control but instead it’s about who’s really in charge and who sets the rules. In other words, it’s about authority. A king has authority over his subjects. A board of directors has authority over a corporation. A government has authority over its citizens. A parent has authority over their children. In each of these cases, the people with authority do not control their constituents. They simply have authority over them and can set the rules and guidelines for what they determine to be of benefit to them. But they also establish the consequences for breaking those rules.

The same is true for God because He is the author of creation. He has all authority because He created all humans, the world, and everything we see and know (Genesis 1). In fact, He sent Jesus into the world to save us from our sin and evil behavior that we willfully engage in. Ultimately, God gave Jesus authority over heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18) because of His obedience to the Father and His authority. God (and Jesus) do not control us, but they do have authority over us and what happens when we “break the rules” that He has set for us. If God truly controlled us, we would never disobey Him and therefore never do evil, endure suffering, or need punishment.

So, God is not controlling, but He is still “in control”, or sovereign, and has authority over us!

Because God is good (Luke 18:19), every evil act in the world results from our disobedience to God’s Word, His will, and His commands. Since He is also a just God, we will suffer the consequences of our actions (Deuteronomy 32:4). And ultimately, we will be held accountable for them at the day of judgement. As Romans 14:12 says, “So, then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”  So, while people can certainly ignore God, or worship other gods, God is still sovereign over the earth and the affairs of man!

Fortunately, however, God is also a loving and merciful God. His desire is always for our good (Romans 8:28). That’s why He sent His own Son Jesus into the world. It was to save us from ourselves because we were helpless and unable to obey His Word, His will, and His commands. He used His authority and sovereignty to restore us into a right relationship with Him through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, our evil and our wrongdoing. And all God asks of us is to just put our faith in Jesus and submit to His authority in our lives! Only a loving God would do that. Only a merciful God would do that. And only a sovereign God could do that!

If all people would simply submit to God and His sovereignty, there would be no more war, violence, conflict, or evil in the world. That sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?

Let us continue to pray for that!